Project Morpheus was built into PS4 from the start - we just didn't know it

Project Morpheus was built into PS4 from the start - we just didn't know it

Exclusive It's all part of the plan

Hey, at least you can dim it now Sony caused a lot of fuss when it confirmed that there would be no way of turning off the DualShock 4's light bar (the tyranny!), but do you want to know why it was really on there? Because of Project Morpheus.
Jed Ashforth, Senior Designer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, told TechRadar that Sony's virtual reality superteam ensured the tracking light was put into the controller - though everyone had to keep quiet about its main purpose.

Inner Tron

"The tracking light… it was our department that said we need that on," said Ashforth. "It was for tracking for VR."
"And when all these things were coming out six months ago and everyone was going 'it's reflecting in my TV,' we were going 'oh no' because we couldn't tell anyone what it was for."
So there you have it. It wasn't just Sony channeling its inner Tron after all.

same reason MS wanted the Kinect on. so that people use it more often if they own the device. with MS, you were going to own the device no matter what.

If you don't have a camera as a lot of people don't again why is it on? A few games use it but mostly its useless if you don't have the camera and even then only rarely.

Now if you have a camera then I see why they might insist that it be on but otherwise its main purpose is to drain the batteries. It doesn't bother me either way as my screen doesn't reflect it, I have a camera and 2 controllers. Not to mention if you do have a camera and plan on the vr set you will obviously want the light on. Making it stay on for those who don't makes no sense.

If you don't have a camera as a lot of people don't again why is it on? A few games use it but mostly its useless if you don't have the camera and even then only rarely.

Now if you have a camera then I see why they might insist that it be on but otherwise its main purpose is to drain the batteries. It doesn't bother me either way as my screen doesn't reflect it, I have a camera and 2 controllers. Not to mention if you do have a camera and plan on the vr set you will obviously want the light on. Making it stay on for those who don't makes no sense.

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i'm trying to figure out what the reason is but i know there is a reason for it. i'm thinking it's a strategic one. possibly wanting to have as many potential people with the feature on. possibly even be for data collection, say if the VR acted like kinect in some way...you know, figuring out who you are, where you are in the room, that sorta stuff. it's unclear at this point but generally keeping things mandatory means that they want there to be a lot of potential for instant/constant usage.

i'm trying to figure out what the reason is but i know there is a reason for it. i'm thinking it's a strategic one. possibly wanting to have as many potential people with the feature on. possibly even be for data collection, say if the VR acted like kinect in some way...you know, figuring out who you are, where you are in the room, that sorta stuff. it's unclear at this point but generally keeping things mandatory means that they want there to be a lot of potential for instant usage.

I was thinking data collection as another possibility but if you don't have a camera...

Yeaaah. You know what would have been really clever?
If you simply had a an option in software to turn it back on and override the default off position when you title required it.
We know you can do it (talk back to the controller) Sony cause you can change the dam color via software.

Seriously. This is the single lamest excuse ever.

Originally Posted by Sufi

i'm trying to figure out what the reason is but i know there is a reason for it. i'm thinking it's a strategic one. possibly wanting to have as many potential people with the feature on. possibly even be for data collection, say if the VR acted like kinect in some way...you know, figuring out who you are, where you are in the room, that sorta stuff. it's unclear at this point but generally keeping things mandatory means that they want there to be a lot of potential for instant/constant usage.

Yeah it called failing to put a switch in the design of the controller, thats all. It always has power going to it.

Yeaaah. You know what would have been really clever?
If you simply had a an option in software to turn it back on and override the default off position when you title required it.
We know you can do it (talk back to the controller) Sony cause you can change the dam color via software.

Seriously. This is the single lamest excuse ever.

that is a smart idea but i'm thinking they want it on all the time. sort of like MS did. for probably similar reasons.

Yeah it called failing to put a switch in the design of the controller, thats all. It always has power going to it.

but they let you dim it, i don't see why it wouldn't be possible to turn it off.

I cant think of a possible reason it would be tracking your controller all the time. Seems very weird to me.

well it's required for the camera and VR, innt?

i would think that maybe some games would utilize the light feature without your permission, don't know but i certainly don't think they would take all the flack and not have a reason behind keeping it on or that they just didn't design it to be off...

oh it's still an afterthought. sure they might support it well but if it's not built around VR, it's an afterthought. PS4 OS iss not built around the device. it might support it.

It has to be that way. Console would be too expensive if VR was in box and they would be no better than Microsoft/Nintendo for forcing something like that not everyone wants. It being designed in mind is the best we could hope for as gamers so no its not a afterthought. VR must be proven and cheapend first. Maybe PS5 will come with it if its cheap enough and VR takes off.

i agree with you, it's not ideal to design the console with VR in mind because it would be too expensive and VR is still very new in the gaming market...practically.

but it's an afterthought. if most games don't support the thing when it comes out and moving forward, it's an afterthought just like Kinect and Move.

I think Sony made the best decision possible on this so if VR fails they arent screwed and we have fuller wallets. If it takes off it will get more and more support from Sony and game developers so we will have awesome experiences and Sony will make money.

Of course, it is a marketing strategy to keep the light on. This isn't some last minute patch job, that was obvious with this light being a down arrow and wider to remove the need for two glow balls on each side of the controller, which was being roundly mocked by u-know-who before the PS4 launch. The light needs the PS4 camera and Sony is going to try to test the add-on peripheral market with the camera and Morpheus. Morpheus also has external lights in each corner. This is going to give extremely accurate head position and movement. The standard controller can be a default standard for motion control with Morpheus, and games will be able to use a combination of a Move controller with the DS4, or two Move controllers, for two handed games. This could easily be done in the Options set up.

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Of course, it is a marketing strategy to keep the light on. This isn't some last minute patch job, that was obvious with this light being a down arrow and wider to remove the need for two glow balls on each side of the controller, which was being roundly mocked by u-know-who before the PS4 launch. The light needs the PS4 camera and Sony is going to try to test the add-on peripheral market with the camera and Morpheus. Morpheus also has external lights in each corner. This is going to give extremely accurate head position and movement. The standard controller can be a default standard for motion control with Morpheus, and games will be able to use a combination of a Move controller with the DS4, or two Move controllers, for two handed games. This could easily be done in the Options set up.

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